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B. H. ALMIROTY SEALING MEANS FOR BURIAL GASKETS, 6L0. APPLICATION FILEDDEC 26. 1918.

1 ,306,457 Patented June 10, 1919.

RANDOLPH H. ALMIRQTY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SEALING MEAN S FOR BURIAL-CASKET'S, (inc.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 10, 1919.

Application filed December 26, 1918. Serial N 0. 268,237.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RANDOLPH H. ALMI- ROTY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, andState of New York, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements inSealing Means for Burial-Caskets, &c., of which the following is aspecification.

\Vhile applicable to analogous uses, my in vention is designed moreparticularly to'afford an automatically locking and hermetically sealingdevice especially adapted for use as a means of closure for burialcaskets. The invention consists essentially in forming the rim of thecasket with a continuous circumscribing mortise groove having arelatively narrow entrance in conjunction with a coincident continuouscircumscribing shouldered tenon on the cover adapted to be positioned insaid mortise groove in the rim of the casket when the cover is appliedto the latter and to be embedded and rigidly secured therein by means ofa waterproof sealing compound substantlally as hereinafi ter set forth,whereby a hermetically sealed joint is efiected between the parts whichis practically indestructible, in that a rigid, integral, unitarystructure is attained.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1, isa sectional projection of a simple form of casket made inaccordance with my invention;

Fig. 2,1s a sectional detail on a larger scale showing the parts of thejoint before copulation;

Fig. 3, is a like view, showing the copulation of the parts andthecompletion of the seal; v

Figs. 4: and 5, are diagrams illustrating variations in the crosssections of the mortise groove.

B, represents the body portion of a casket of plain design, the rim b,of which is formed in accordance with my invention, 6., with acontinuous circumscribing mortise groove m, extending around both thesides and ends of the body. This mortise groove m, opens through the topof the rim, the opening or mouth m, being of less width than the crossarea of the groove m, below. By preference the width of the mouth oropening m, of the mortise-groove m, is but slightly greater than thewidth of the lateral extension 0, on the lower portion of the couplingflange or tenon 0', which is protuberant from the under side of the edge0 of the lid or cover C,only suificient margin of width being providedin the entrance m, to said mortise-groove an, to admit of the insertionof said coupling tenon a, when the lid C, is applied to body B, of thecasket.

In other words the mouth of the mortisegroove is undercut and ofincreased area in cross section, so as to afiiord ample space for asuitable quantity of sealing compound 8.

The lid C, is formed with an external circumscribing register flange 0',which fits the rim 6, of the casket body B, and thereby centra lizes thecoupling tenon c, c, with relation to the mortise-groove m.

The contacting faces of the flange and rim are correspondingly beveled,as shown, so that when thelid is placed down in po sition a wedge actionis produced that tends to draw the parts together and form a tightjoint.

A preferred configuration of mortisegroove m, is shown in the firstthree figures of the drawing, although I do not restrict myself thereto,nor to any specific shape thereof except that the entrance to the groovem, must be contracted as related to the portion of the groove below toform inturned shoulders m m", which confine and prevent the withdrawalof the mass of sealing compound .9, when set. Thus in the modificationshown diagrammatically in Fig. 4, which is only one of many that mightbe resorted to with like result, the upper side walls of the groove m,simply converge upward and inward centrally to the mouth m, of themortise-groove m, forming nevertheless suitable retaining shoulders m*,m", which lock the mass of cement s, permanently in position when set,as before stated. In the configuration of cross section of mortisegroove m, shown in the first three figures of the drawings, one or theother of the shoulders m", guarding the mouth or opening m, into thesaid mortise-groove m, is made of less depth than the other tofacilitate the insertion of the fiukes c, and shank c, of the couplingtenon on the lid C, (when the latter is applied) by providing for theflow upward and outward of the surplus of semi-liquid sealing compound.9, displaced by said coupling tenon c, c, as positioned in said grooveI The shape of the coupling tenon c, c, in cross section is alsoobviously of secondary importance provided it is adapted to perform thefunction of an anchor or looking means whenembedded in the hardenedsealing compound. Thus, any suitable lateral flaring, extension, orenlargement of the, lower portion of the shank 0, of the tenon that willafford adequate fluke surface adapted to insure a firm and rigid hold ofthe coupling tenon in and to the hardened cement 8, in which it isembedded, will answer the purpose,the positive and permanent union ofthe congealed cement s, and of the coupling tenon c, 0, thus anchoredtherein resultin in a sealed joint between casket body and 11d that ispractically indestructible in that the joint is as strong, if notstronger, than any other portion of the unitary structure thus attained.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the fluke extension 0, protrudes onone side only of the shank c, of the coupling tenon, and the mouth ofthe mortise-groove m, is formed with only one opposed retaining shoulderm*, but it is obvious that a like result may be attained also by thisconfiguration of interlocking parts.

The area and capacity of the mortisegroove m, as related to the size anddisplacement of the coupling tenon c, c, is such as to accommodate aquantity of sealing compound slightly in excess of that required to fillthe groove when said coupling tongue is positioned therein, so thatsufficient of such sealing compound will be forced out of the saidgroove and between the opposed surfaces of lid and cover adjacentthereto to insure the hermetical sealing of the joint as a whole whenthe cement has set and hardened.

It is to be understood that the sealing compound 8, when introduced intothe mortise-groove m, prior to the sealing operation is substantially ofthe consistency of heavy cream, so that it will flow readily and bereadily displaced in part to fill the interstices incident to thecontactual surfaces between lid and casket rim, thereby hermeticallysealing the joint between said surfaces.

While I do not claim the use of any particular compound of cement, norconfine myself to any formula, a sealing compound is preferableconsisting of extremely fine ground cement of a clay or rock base,thoroughly \vat/erproofed in the manufacture, and the crushing strengthof which is approximately two hundred pounds to the square inch whenthoroughly set. Such a composition for instance, of the consistency ofheavy cream may be poured into the mortise-groove m, shown in the firstthree figures of the drawings, until the level .indicated by the line ww(Fig. 2), is attained, or even above the plane of that line, as anyexcess will simply be made to exude through the joint during the sealingoperation. The cover C, being then properly positioned and alined abovethe casket body B, and lowered, the protrusion of the coupling tenon 0,0', into the mortise-channel m, owing to the fluid condition of thecement s, displaces the surplus or excess of cement and forces asufiicient quantity of it into any and all spaces and intersticesbetween the opposed cont-actual surfaces of the lid and casket rim toexpel all air and completely fill all spaces that would otherwise bevoid, thus hermetically sealing the joint as soon as the sealingcompound sets and hardens.

It will thus be seen that I attain automatically locking andhermetically sealing means of great simplicity and efi'ectiveness, andthat the locking and sealing are accom plished simultaneously in oneoperation, 2'. 6., that of simply positioning-the lid on the casketafter the sealing compound has been introduced into the mortise-groovein the rim of the latter. Furthermore the operation is so simple and theregistration of parts necessarily so true owing to the overlappingflange 0', on the outer edge of the lid C, that skilled labor is notessential to its successful performance; and all screws, bolts, or otherextraneous securing devices are entirely dispensed with. Thus the easketmay be'designa-ted as self-contained in so far as the locking andsealing means are concerned, because they are internal and are renderedinaccessible by the mere act of applying the lid to the casket body, sothat reopening of the casket by the removal of the lid is renderedpractically impossible. The seal is both air and water tight and willremain so perpetually.

l/Vhat-l claim as my invention and desire I to secure by Letters Patentis,

1. In combination with a casket of the character designated, means forautomatically locking and hermetically closing the same, comprising therim of the casket-body formed with a circumscribing mortisegroove, theopening into said mortise-groove being of less width than that of thecross section of the groove below said opening,

a coincident coupling tenon on the lid of less width than said openingto the mortisegroove in the body rim of the casket, the shank of saidcoupling being of less thickness than a lower portion thereof, acentralizing register flange on the lid engaging the inner and outerwalls of the rim of the casket and positioning the said coupling tenonwith relation to said mortise groove in the rim of the casket, and anairand water-proof sealing compound interposed between the said parts,whereby the coupling tenon on the lid is positively and rigidly embeddedand anchored with the hardened sealing compound in the mortisegroove inthe rim of the casket body and the joint is hermetically sealed, for thepurpose described.

2. A casket having its body 1 portion formed with a cil'cumscribingmortise groove openingthrough the top of the rim jlifllparimgemfi'iliibeingcorrespondingly bevmouth of less Width thanttrejrossirea of -eled; and a hardening sealing material in thegroovefzflidhavinga depending tenon said groove, surrounding said tenonand i with coupling flange but slightly narrower flange and filling thegroove and the space 15 BFHaE t he width of said mouth, said lid beingbetween the opposed contactual surfaces of formed with an externalcircumscri-bing regsaid lid and rim.

' ister flange fitting said rim and centralizing the coupling tenon withits coupling flange R H ALMIROTY' to the mortise groove and embracingthe Witnesses: 10 rim snugly upon both ofits inner and outer GEO. WM.MIATT,

walls, the outer contacting faces of said DOROTH MIAT

